The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 16, 2024

Before the Race

Before the Race

c. 1887–89
(French, 1834–1917)
France, 19th century
pastel with charcoal underdrawing on tracing paper mounted on cardboard
Sheet: 57.5 x 65.4 cm (22 5/8 x 25 3/4 in.)
Bequest of Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. 1958.27
Catalogue raisonné: Lemoisne 755
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

When creating the series to which this pastel belongs, Edgar Degas was inspired by the 19th-century photographer Eadweard Muybridge, who attempted to record motion in static images.

Description

Degas returned to the theme of horse and rider time and again throughout his career. Scholars believe that he executed the first version of this composition of four jockeys on horseback in a charcoal and pastel drawing. Several years later, he traced the composition, reversing its orientation to create the highly finished Cleveland pastel. The palette is intensified, the distance between the second and third jockeys is increased, and the foliage along the horizon has been added to suggest a lush spring day.
  • by 1918-after 1933
    Henry Lerolle [1848–1929], Paris
    ?-?
    (Hector Brame, Paris)
    ?-?
    (César M. de Hauke, New York)
    after 1933-1939
    (Jacques Seligmann, New York, sold to Leonard C. Hanna, Jr., Cleveland, OH)
    1939-1958
    Leonard C. Hanna Jr. [1889–1957], Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1958-
    Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Hourticq, Louis. “E. Degas.” Art et Décoration 32, no. 2 (1912): 97-113. Reproduced: p. 111
    Lafond, Paul. Degas. Paris: H. Floury, 1918. Reproduced: after p. 126
    Hertz, Henri. Degas. Paris: Félix Alcan, 1920. Reproduced: pl. VI
    Coquiot, Gustave. Degas. Paris: Ollendorff, 1924. Reproduced: opposite p. 160
    Fosca, François. Degas. Paris: Librarie de France, 1930 Reproduced: pl. 17
    Exposition du pastel français du XVIIe siècle à nos jours. Exh. cat. Paris: André J. Seligmann, 1933. Mentioned: p. 45, no. 67
    Pach, Walter. Catalogue of European & American Paintings, 1500–1900. Exh. cat. New York: World’s Fair, 1940. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 185, no. 269
    Lemoisne, Paul André. Degas et son œuvre. Paris: Brame et de Hauke, 1946. Mentioned and reproduced: vol. 3, pp. 428-29, no. 755
    Francis, Henry Sayles. Works by Degas. Exh. Cat. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1947. Mentioned: p. 15, no. 22; Reproduced: pl. XVII
    A Loan Exhibition of Degas for the Benefit of the New York Infirmary. Exh. cat. New York: Wildenstein, 1949. Mentioned: p. 61, no. 67
    Cabanne, Pierre. Edgar Degas. Paris: Pierre Tisné, 1957. Mentioned and reproduced: 117, no. 107.
    Seligman, Germain. Merchants of Art: 1880–1960, Eighty Years of Professional Collecting. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1961. Reproduced: pl. 76b
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 175 archive.org
    Werner, Alfred. Degas Pastels. New York: Watson-Guptill, 1968. Mentioned: p. 60; Reproduced: p. 61
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 175 archive.org
    Russoli, Franco. L'opera completa di Degas. Milan: Rizzoli, 1970. Mentioned and reproduced: pp. 119–20, no. 703
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 214 archive.org
    Bell, Clive. The French Impressionists. New York: Phaidon, 1978. Mentioned: p. 3; Reproduced: pl. 20
    Lister, Ron. Drawing with Pastels. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1982. Reproduced: p. 10
    Gotz, Adriani. Degas Pastels, Oil Sketches, Drawings. Exh. cat. Tübingen: Kunsthalle, 1984. Mentioned: p. 380, no. 148; Reproduced: pl. 148
    Henning, Edward B. Creativity in Art and Science, 1860-1960. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Published by the Cleveland Museum of Art in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1987. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 98, no. 5
    Boggs, Jean Sutherland, Douglas W. Druick, Henri Loyrette, Michael Pantazzi, and Gary Tinterow. Degas. Exh. cat. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1988. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 565
    Gordon, Robert and Andrew Forge. Degas. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1988. Reproduced: p. 85
    Maheux, Anne F. Degas Pastels Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 1988. Mentioned: pp. 68-69; Reproduced: pp. 69 (detail), 72
    Pickvance, Ronald. Degas. Exh. cat. Martigny: Fondation Pierre Gianadda, 1993. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 35
    Boggs, Jean Sutherland, ed. Degas at the Races. Exh. cat. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, 1998. Mentioned: pp. 138-40; Reproduced: p. 140
    Marmor, Michael F. Degas through His Own Eyes: Visual Disability and the Late Style of Degas, 38, 46 (ill.). Paris: Somogy, 2002. Mentioned and reproduced: pp. 38, 46
    Impressionist and Modern Works on Paper. New York: Christie's, 2007. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 18
    Lemonedes, Heather, "Unparalleled Color", Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine. Vol. 47 no. 10, December 2007 Mentioned & reproduced: p. 3 archive.org
    Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 166
    Barbe-Gall, Françoise, and Edgar Degas. Pourquoi Degas est Degas. Paris: Éditions Le Deuxième Horizon, 2019. Mentioned and reproduced: pp. 58-59
    Lerolle, Aggy. Henry Lerolle: Paris 1848-1929. Willaupuis, Belgium: Wapica; Paris: Société des Amis d'Henry Lerolle, 2022. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 78-79
    "Drawn to Excellence." Fine Art Connoisseur 20, no. 1 (January/February 2023): 90. Reproduced: P. 90
  • Nineteenth-Century French Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 20-April 30, 2023).
    Pure Color: Pastels from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 19, 2016-March 19, 2017).
    Treasures on Paper from the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 9-June 8, 2014).
    Monet to Dalí: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 21, 2007-January 13, 2008).
    Time Stands Still: Muybridge and the Instantaneous Photography Movement. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (February 15-May 16, 2004).
    Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 27-October 17, 2000).
    Creativity in Art and Science, 1860-1960. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 16-November 8, 1987).
    Edgar Degas: Pastelle, Ölskizzen, Zeichnungen. Kunsthalle Tübingen (January 14–March 25, 1984); Nationalgalerie Berlin (April 5–May 20, 1984).
    In Memoriam: Leonard C. Hanna, Jr.. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 4-April 7, 1958).
    A Loan Exhibition of Degas for the Benefit of the New York Infirmary. Wildenstein, New York (April 7–May 14, 1949).
    Works of Edgar Degas. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 5-March 9, 1947).
    Masterpieces of Art, New York World’s Fair. New York (May–October, 1940).
    Exposition du pastel français du XVIIe siècle à nos jours. André J. Seligmann, Paris (November 18–December 9, 1933).
  • {{cite web|title=Before the Race|url=false|author=Edgar Degas|year=c. 1887–89|access-date=16 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1958.27